Having just gone through this recently and losing Monkee to anemia/FelV, I can provide this:
Blood transfusion: wears off in 10 days, if not less.
Signs of it wearing off are pretty clear: lack of energy, less moving around, white gums/nose (Monkee's nose was "perfect pink" and when his transfusion wore off, it was white-white), not eating/eating less. You need to enjoy the time you have with her now that she's had a transfusion, but PREPARE in advance for it to wear off. You need to consider now whether you will do another one. There may not be time to think about that when the time comes.
The only thing I regret about Monkee's situation and passing is that the transfusion wore off and I thought maybe his body would make red blood cells on it's own and it didn't, so he went downhill very rapidly. You need to know that if the cat's body is not making it's own RBCs and the transfusion wears off, the cat experiences dizziness, vertigo, shortness of breath and maybe trouble breathing. I am not trying to be harsh here, just telling you what a cat will feel so that you can try to put yourself in that position to truly understand. The slightest movement may cause them dizziness and distress. In Monkee's final days/hours, all he wanted to do was lay in my closest (which he had never done before) on top of all my shoes; he didn't sleep, his eyes were always open and dilated and he would stare into space (which he had never done before until the anemia set in). Only in the final hours did he occasionally cry out like he had never done before (my mom and I believe it was because he felt like he wanted to do something, like go out on his porch, and he'd tried to move to do it, but wouldn't get far because of the shortness of breath/dizziness and he would get frustrated and angry and would emit the "cry." It broke my heart). He only had about 30 secs of respiratory distress while I held him and then he passed in my arms. I do indeed hope this is not the path you and your sweet cat take.
From my own experience in July, I provide you these "words of wisdom":
Watch for signs of a worsening of her symptoms; prepare for them; and admit to yourself when you see them (fight off the denial)-- those are the only things you can do so as to try to do what is best for your cat and that is what we all want. Anemia is a horrible way for them to suffer.
Interferon: Injections? I was able to give Monkee oral interferon that had been ordered through a pharmacy via the telephone- I think it was Wedgwood Pharmacy? Your Vet calls in the prescription, then you call to order and pay for it. It's delivered in the mail- has to be refrigerated. And yes, this is only an immune booster that I believe Monkee was taking more for his Lymphosarcoma (cancer brought on by FelV); but once the anemia took over and became his most pressing problem, we stopped the interferon.
Best of luck to you.
-Caroline
From: wendy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: To Megan: Re: My cat was tested positive yesterday,and I don't know what to do.
Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:19:08 -0700 (PDT)
>Megan,
>
>Hi and welcome to the group. I'm sorry you had to find us but you've come to the best place there is for info. short of a Veterinary Internist. I hope this evening finds you better off than last night. Michael is right...going to the website and clicking into Archives and searching through the most current archives is a very good idea. There is so much to learn and lot of good, intelligent people here to help you.
>
>Retesting with the IFA after a positive ELISA (in-house) test is important. ELISA can give false positives/negatives. However, since Olive already is dealing with anemia, the test is probably correct. However, all of your kitties who are positive can still seroconvert and 'throw' the virus, so don't give up hope that one day they will be negative. I would retest every 3-6 months (probably 6, since it's less stressful on them to travel and test less often). About 30-40% of cats who are exposed will throw off the virus, which means that if all three were exposed as kittens, which is the most likely scenario for exposure, then the other two may be negative. I'm betting at least one of them is, considering the numbers.
>
>I will not sugar-coat things...anemia is bad for FeLV+ kitties. It's fatal a lot of the time, BUT we have seen kitties here who got through the anemia with things like transfusions and meds to help stimulate red blood cell production (mainly prednisolone). The transfusion will wear off. I think it lasts about 10 days, give or take. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Did the vet give you any meds to give Olive? She needs help in getting her RBC's going again. Did the vet say she has regenerative or non-regenerative anemia? Do you happen to have a copy of the bloodwork results done on Olive? If not, can you get them to send you one electronically or pick one up to post here? The BIG thing you need to know about is Hemobartonella. Did your vet mention putting Olive on a three week dose of Doxycycline. Hemobart is very difficult to see on a slide, so difficult to diagnose. One minute the blood parasite is there, the next it's not. So the majority
> of vets usually dose with doxy when they see anemia in an felv+ cat. Hemobart has a much higher presence in FeLV+ kitties. If it is hemobart, that's a good thing Megan. It means you have a much better chance of saving Olive. But you have to get her the meds asap. And be firm with your vet about the doxy. If your vet has not touched on any of these things I'm telling you, find another vet asap. You need someone who is willing to work with you to save Olive. Not make money off of you and not immediately suggest pts at the first sign of a positive FeLV test. Michael's suggestion of getting a referral to UT is a great idea. I'm concerned that the vet did not tell you that the transfusion was just a temporary fix. It treats the symptom, not the problem. Some people do treat with Interferon. I would post a question with that in the subject line and you will get more specific responses regarding that specific treatment. Interferon will not treat
> anemia though. It helps the immune system stay strong so the virus doesn't kick in.
>
>The two most important things you can do to keep your kitties healthy and the virus from 'kicking in' or activating is to feed them a high quality diet, one with no grains, like Innova Evo or the like. Add immune boosting supplements like lysine to the food. Lysine must not have the additive Propylene Glycol in the ingredients as it causes Heinz body anemia in cats. The other thing is to keep your kitties as stress-free as possible. New additions to the family, long vacations and especially boarding, moving, environmental factors like heat, a lot of company, and loud noises are all some things that can stress kitties out. Also, your kitties have already been exposed, so separating them at this point is only going to stress them out further, something you don't want. I would not separate. I did not separate mine (I had four, one positive; the other three never became positive after four years sharing the same food/water bowls and litter boxes).
>
>Try not to stress out too much Megan, so Olive will not pick up on it. Do as well as you can in your studies even though you are dealing with this, and enjoy every minute you have with Olive. Take photos of her so in case the worst happens, you have a visual memory of her. I am not trying to scare you; just trying to give realistic advice. You can't know what's in store for Olive in the near future. Prepare for the worst, but hope and PRAY for the best. And please keep us posted and ask anymore questions you may have.
>
>:)
>Wendy
>
>
>
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